Separate body urged for child sex abuse compo

A Warrnambool law firm says the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse should have followed Ireland's lead.

The terms of reference include provisions for victims to seek compensation from institutions.

However, Gary Foster of Maddens Lawyers says, in Ireland, a separate body was established to fund compensation claims so victims did not have to deal with the churches and institutions where they were abused.

He says institutions usually make compensation claims difficult.

"Some institutions, and in that I include the Catholic Church, have been quite difficult to convince that compensation of an appropriate nature should be paid," he said.